Haejin surfaced, coughing and gasping. She wiped her face, blinking furiously.
What the hell just happened?!
She was about to scream murder when she saw something that took her breath away. Like literally, and I'm telling you not in a positive way!
A massive tail.
Sleek. Black. Shiny. Scaly. And most of all, very much alive and moving!
Is… Is that a… snake?!
Her danger radar went into full red alert. Panic exploded in her chest as bubbles poured from her mouth. Her eyes stayed glued to the glinting black scales curling toward her through the water.
Oh god! Oh god, what the heck! Why am I not waking up?!
Isn't this supposed to be a dream? Please wake her up before she gets eaten by the big serpent!
She thrashed, trying to swim away — but it was useless.
Why is it so big?! Is this a python? An anaconda?!
Her lungs burned, and panic made her vision blur.
Am I really going to die in my own fantasy? No way!
She didn't even get to continue the kiss earlier with the handsome white wolfy! How is this even fair?
"Gods, please pull me out of this dream! I promise to be better! I'll stop fantasizing about fictional men! I'll get married, have babies, and live a boring, respectable life—"
Splash!
A strong arm yanked her out of the water.
Haejin gasped for air and clung desperately to the person who saved her, hoping it was the wolf guy. Heavens, had they finally heard her prayers?!
"I-I'm alive…" she croaked, clutching her savior's neck with pathetic desperation. Tears stung her eyes. Too much. This was too much. She was overwhelmed, wet, cold, and on the brink of a mental breakdown.
Then suddenly, her savior patted her back. A hiss tickled her ear.
Her breath hitched, and she felt her brimming tears retreat in fear.
A... hiss?
A black tail coiled around his waist. Haejin stiffened but dared to lift her head.
And there, their gazes met. Her mouth fell open like a big bucket, and so did her frightened eyes.
Holy… snake!!!
Crimson red eyes bored on her like a dazzling laser. Dangerous yet threateningly beautiful.
"Wife," the snake-man purred, his hand cupping her face with alarming tenderness. "Are you hurt?"
Her brain screamed. Her body screamed. Her heart? Err... It's having a damn meltdown.
Shiiiiit!
Nam Haejin mentally squealed.
What to do? Even a dangerous looking snake is so freaking gorgeous that she wanna clean her own neck and get bitten so hard!
I think I'm going nuts! First, a handsome white wolf, and now this hot big snake?!
They're partly predators, but how could they be so handsome and beautiful?
My heart is being snatched away. Oh, Gods, please help, I'm too weak to resist temptation!
On the otherhand, seeing the woman breathing fine after a while, the black snake sighed, and his fangs flashed behind his perfect lips.
"Sshh, don't worry. I'm here now. You're safe…" Sol whispered and pulled her to his embrace.
Haejin was stunned, but she didn't really protest.
If anything, she was too weak and too tired after all the things that had happened. Surprisingly, she didn't feel any repulsion as though his touch was all too natural and something she was already accustomed to.
The man's warmth was akin to soothing balm on her frayed nerves. And subconsciously, she just allowed herself to melt into the man's protective embrace as though it was meant to be.
"Hmmm..."
So comfy...
The soft wind bristled in her form, and the man's temperature felt like a natural barrier that eased her cold. She closed her eyes, feeling surprisingly secure.
For a while, the world felt so serene and peaceful that even her fears and unanswered questions died down.
It was all too great until his crimson eyes flashed dangerously and uttered a sudden threat, laced with lethal poison.
"Tell me which dumbass did it. I will bite that brainless bastard who threw you here to death."
"..."
Speechless, Nam Haejin blinked rapidly, shivering in his arms as her brain worked overtime.
Did he just say bite?
"You... You're going to bite someone to death?" she asked, her voice shaking—not from cold, but genuine concern for her life choices. Not that she had any right now.
Sol's crimson eyes narrowed.
"If they hurt you, they die."
Wow.
This man's threat was undoubtedly scary and dangerous but dang it her heart was surely fluttering and thumping like crazy!
Is this why fictional ladies love those dark characters in the novel? She too knew it was a glaring red and yet her stupid heart is still bouncing like a teenage, swooning over damn words!
"You're mine," he said simply. "No one touches what's mine."
Ack! Holy toxic red flag!
She'd heard lines like that in web novels and spicy manhwa, but they were never this real. Or terrifyingly convincing.
She knew she shouldn't but her damn foolish heart was swoon over. Is she gradually becoming one of those female simps that she would often choke through the depths of her head while reading their crappy choice of men?!
Oh great gods, help her poor smitten heart!
The man held her carefully out of the water while never taking his sight away from her.
This couldn've been so romantic if not for deadly fangs showing and the slithery fork tongue hissing right in front of her face as if trying to make her recall this person was a real beast and not just a 'normal' hotty.
Before she could properly calm her hormones, tell him to back off and explain what the hell is going on, another noise cracked through the forest.
Snap!
A twig broke. Then another and so on...
Following the faint sound, two figures emerged from behind a row of thick, mossy trees. There, she saw Cain with a serious and concern expression.
Behind him was another tall guy with deep, inky hair, panting, limping, and seemingly bruised all over, like he'd rolled down a mountain and then wrestled a bear halfway back.
Haejin tensed.
Another beast? Who... is that?
This new guy looked like a mess—shirt torn, one eye swollen shut, and mud streaked across his jawline—but despite the battle damage, there was no mistaking the sleek, black tail dragging behind him.
A cat?
No, it wasn't just any cat— but a freaking huge cat. Black and panther-like!
His ears twitched atop his head as he locked eyes with her and instantly lit up like a kicked puppy seeing his owner.
"Wife…!"
"Wifeeyyyy!"
Her whole body froze. She could feel her eardrums bleeding.
What now?!
"Are you alright?" Cain asked with a pained gaze and draped her with a dry, warm coat. The gesture struck her and she felt very thankful for his attentiveness but her response was ultimately drowned by someone else's burst of tearducts and nonstop shouting.
"Thank y—"
"Wifeeyyy! I—I'm so sorry! I wasn't thinking straight. I shouldn't have thrown you out like that. I'm really really sorry! Boohoo!"
The big black feline almost take a leap and hug her but immediately back down when he saw her drenched form like he had seen something that made him particularly revolted.
He really hates touching the water!
The black panther flinched and stopped abruptly. Halting his step within a safe distance, the man cried out dramatically, scrambling forward in pretense but obviously dared not to approach near her drenched body.
"M-My darling wifey!"
"Would you believe me if I said... I didn't mean it?"
"..."
Hyun continued to sob. He didn't really mean causing her harm. And doesn't their wife really like soaking naked on the lake? Not only did he know whichmtime of the day and for how long she would stay afloat. He even memorize the pattern of how she washes her body after watching... Ahem, guarding from far away for so long!
Why was she being so sensitive like this today for getting her body soak?
"I was trying to help you calm down! Please forgive me this one time!"
Meanwhile, Haejin's face counted be more ugly and contorted. The more she hears of his reasoning, the more she felt hitting some sense on his clueless head.
And what did he say?
His wife? Again?
Just how many husbands does she have? Ah...
Before Haejin could react, Sol snarled, standing up with her still half-wrapped in his arms. His tail lashed the air and fierce lunged at his throat which Hyun fortunately evaded on time.
"You dare show your face?" he hissed. "You're still breathing after what you did?"
"W-Wait! Ah, shit! Sol, don't kill me! I said I was sorry! I-I just panicked earlier!" the big black cat whimpered, crouching with both arms raised as if he'd been through this before. "She... she was steaming—literally steaming! Cain made her so hot to the point where I saw her producing smoke wisps! I-I was trying to help and so I thought maybe a cold bath would help..."
Hearing his words, Haejin realized something with dawning horror. This battered black feline was the one who threw her and what's more!
"You threw me into a lake to cool off?!" she screeched, voice cracking. "Are you crazy?! I almost drowned!"
Hyun winced and tried to reason out.
"It was a shallow part! I thought—"
"Then you thought wrong!"
Nam Haejin glared.
What piece of jerk!